


Leave a light on.

by hawktasha



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, F/M, Zutara, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawktasha/pseuds/hawktasha
Summary: 𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒, 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑟. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝘩𝑜𝑚𝑒.After the letter, Katara can't help but light a lantern herself so Zuko come back to her.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Leave a light on.

**Author's Note:**

> Zutara Week 2020's promt; 
> 
> • Day 7 - 𝑹𝒆𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉

_ Leave a light on _ . 

Something was wrong, because something always go wrong for them.  _ Why was her even surprised? _ Since the very  **beginning** , it seemed like they were  _ doomed _ ; always being  _ pushed back _ when they’ve got the courage to  **step forward** . 

The letter arrived at the midnight in the city of Ba Sing Se. A riot had emerged in the capital of the Fire Nation and Zuko has being required immediately.  _ Alone _ .

Even if that scared the hell out of the waterbender, even if it made her  _ suspicious _ ; it was settled.

The next day the black haired boy sailed his way back to his home.

It was a stupidity, she thought at first. Some dumb superstitious tradition from the South Pole Tribe, but she couldn’t help herself,  _ just in case _ .

A reddish lantern, setted on the ledge of the bedroom’s window they were sharing not long before.  _ A light to guide the souls back from their travels. _

Just she expected  **him** to return, and he  **_never_ ** came back.

She died long after him, at an old age in her sleep. But the pain, the emptiness she felt in her core,  _ it never left her _ . She  **never** forgot him.

  
  


_ Leave a light on _ . 

But it never worked, _didn’t_ _ it _ ?

* * *

It was a  **nightmare** .

Fire, and  _ blood _ , and screaming. 

It was like hell had been  **unleashed** .

Some idiot, they first said, with a bunch of firecrackers. A bomb they said soon after.  _ Terrorists _ . A pyromaniac.  **_Damn_ ** ; she was tired, and scared. She couldn’t even think clearly as the wounded came out of the building. As the bodies  _ piled up _ in the concrete.

_ What was happening? _ But she hadn’t have time to loose, not  _ her _ . 

She was a paramedic, not for long, but she was  **fucking** good at it. But being good doesn't mean being  _ heartless _ ; and the images of that night, well. Those images would be forever imprinted in her pupils.

Firefighters went in and out the building in a never ending loop, some carrying out victims, others leaving the flames almost  _ suffocated _ . 

It was  **then** when it happened. 

A second blow. The fire reached a gas pipe. 

_ What the heck?  _ She thought, her eyes blurry from the smoke, her hands shaking from the tiredness.  _ They were supposed to shut it down, how could they didn’t? _

Chaos and cries. It was everything that surrounded the woman. Just  _ chaos  _ and _ cries _ . 

Until the second explosion. Then,  **silence** reigned. 

The civilians were all out by the time, but the firefighters weren’t. They were still battling the flames. 

She held her hand against her chest, over her heart; almost unconsciously. Wishing…, no,  **praying** for them to be  _ far _ from the  _ blast _ . 

Her heart sank seconds after. Six left the building, four walking by their  _ own _ , two of them were being  _ carried _ . 

She and her partner ran immediately to them, nervousness and rage and fear flooding their mind. They were late.  _ Slightly _ late. 

The woman watched the men as they put one of the bodies to the floor, lifeless. But the other one. . . The suit he one had was know torned apart, the left side of his face turning a crimson color,  **burned** . Hopelessly, she place two fingers over her wrist, about to check the  _ hour of death;  _ but she got a  **_pulse_ ** . Weak,  _ arrhythmic _ ; but it was there. 

Quickly, she gestured to the ambulance, the driver pulling a stretcher out the back. She placed the young man over it, with the help of the other firefighters. She could tell they were  _ worried _ , in pain. Damn it, she didn’t even know him and she was feeling it all. 

Without hesitation she pull the strecher to the back of the vehicle, and jumped right in. 

“ _ You can’t leave now! _ ” she heard someone yell as one of the doors closed. Her partner, presumably. 

“ _ He’s still breathing! He’s  _ **_badly_ ** _ injured, but he’s still alive. He needs immediate assistance or he won’t make it _ .” She screamed, tears filling her eyes from the frustration. They were short handed, sure, but the majority of the victims were merely wounded. The critics already gone in other ambulances. 

She knew they needed her, but so did that man; and it wasn’t in herself to walk away for those in need. “ _ I’ll came as soon as he’s at the hospital! I... I need to do it _ .” She didn’t know where the last words came out, but it was too late to take it back she supposed as the car engine started and they were set to the nearest hospital. 

Hours pass by and the brunette wasn’t needed anymore, but she couldn’t move. She had came back to the site of the incident and help them evacuate, as she promised. But right after she made her way  _ back _ to the hospital. She was  _ exhausted  _ for all the work, for all the emotions; but she couldn’t go home. She  **needed** to see him. 

He was in a  _ coma _ ; the news hitting her like a brick of concrete.  _ But why? _ She barely even knew him; no, she  **didn’t** know him at all. 

But somehow, there was something that  _ pull  _ her to him. A strange force that made it impossible to her to move a muscle, leaving her there sitting on an hospital bench. 

After he was placed in a room, she left. 

_ ‘Any family? _ ’ She remembered they asked her before she leave. ‘I don’t know’ she answered, a short truthfully answer. 

A few days passed and the girl found herself going back to that  _ room _ , to that man. 

‘ _ Are you family? _ ’ The woman at the reception asked, her brow slightly up. ‘I’m her paramedic.’ She didn’t knew why she said _ that _ . ‘The one who brought her up.’ She quickly add with embarrassment, her cheeks slightly flustered. 

The woman looked up to her, chewing the gum in her mouth. ‘ _ Sorry, ma’am _ .  _ Only family is allowed _ .’

Suddenly, it hit her. The  _ anger _ . But why? She didn’t knew that man.  _ Why she cared so deeply to see him? _

“ _ I’m also his girlfriend. _ ”  _ What did she just say.  _

‘ _ Sure you are,  _ _ sugar queen _ .’ The receptionist pop a pink bubble at her, almost mocking her. 

“ _ Please. . ., I _ ” she pleaded, not knowing what to said, how to go on with her speech. 

‘ _ Look, _ ’ the woman started, ‘ _ Surely it goes against protocol, but I can let you go see him. No one has came anyway _ .’ 

The girl look at her, suspiciously, but she didn’t waste another second and made her way to the halls. She didn’t even wait to her replying the number of room he was in, she remembered. Once she got there, the receptionist's words hit her. No one has came anyway. But almost a week had passed since the fire, how could no one had come? Didn’t that man have any family? Friends? That thoughts avoided her mind about thinking why she was there. And it was easy this way. 

Those visits became a routine for her. Initially, she wouldn’t dare to come inside the room, just take a peek over the window from the hall. The receptionist almost felt like a friend by that time, sharing a conspiratorial look with her everytime she saw her over her desk. Off to see your boyfriend, sugar queen; she’d say. She got used to that name, and those words. Even though they both know it wasn't the truth.

But as the days pass by, her nervousness and fears disappeared too, and she found herself talking to him on a daily basis. About her day, her job, anything. She didn’t know if he could hear her, and what would he think if he did; but she didn’t care. It felt special, in a weird way; but special anyway.

It was around the second week when something unexpected happened. She fell asleep, on a chair, next to his bed. Only waken by an unknown grunt. She almost fell from her place when she woke up, not realising where she was after a few seconds passed by.

In front of her, with a shocked look, there was a man. A little bit taller than her, his skin slightly darker too. His blue eyes scanned her from head to toe in a loop.

“ _ Need anything? _ ” She burst out, not knowing where she got the strength from. As far as she knew, that guy could be anyone, but if he was able to pass through Toph —yes, that’s the receptionist's name; she mentioned they were becoming friends,  _ didn’t she _ — it could only meant he was  family . Although the two men look  **nothing** alike.  _ Maybe a friend. _

‘ _ What?! I should be the one asking? _ ’ he shouted, it was like she attacked him or something. ‘ _ Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my bro’s room _ ’ 

“ _ He is your brother? _ ”

‘ _ What?! No. I said  _ **_bro_ ** _ , are you deaf? Do you think we look anything alike? _ ’ he was gesturing in an exaggerated way as he speak, the girl almost losing track of his words.  _ This guy is  _ _ weird _ .

“ _ Of course you don’t. He’s way better looking _ .” Again, as it happened the first time she went to visit, the words seemed to just  **slip** out of her mouth without stop. She could felt her cheeks reddened as she realised what she just said.

‘ _ Ouch. That hurt. _ ’ he widened his eyes, scanning her again. ‘ _ I didn’t get your name _ .’

“ _ That’s because I didn’t tell you _ .”

‘ _ Oh, c’mon; fresh start, huh? I’m Sokka; nice to meet you, I guess, in the room of my friend. _ ’ 

“ _ That’s a weird name _ .”

‘ _ Really!? You’re attacking me again? What’s your  _ **_problem_ ** _? _ ’ he shouted again. The girl was slightly amused of his reaction. Seriously _ , what the hell you go by? Do I have to call you  _ _ stranger _ _ for now on? _ ’

“ _ I’m Katara _ .” she simply answered.

‘ _ And you said my name was  _ _ weird _ .’

  
  


Those little moments went by from time to time. She kept visiting him, talking to him. Just now, there were times the other boy was there too. Those times, Katara talked with him instead of the boy laying in the bed, not wanting to seem more  crazy than she knew he thought she was. 

One day, over a month after her first visit; she found Sokka outside, in the halls. And that was weird.

“ _ Something happened? _ ” she asked, worry showing in her voice.

‘ _ He woke up _ .’ the man answered. It was a quick response, a good new; but Katara couldn’t feel at ease. She waited for this time for a long time, so why was she nervous now? Why did she felt like she should leave, run from there? She shakes her head, her gaze flickering from the almonded skin boy to the bedroom’s window, in confusion.

“ _ I. . . I have to go. _ ” she didn’t even bother in giving him an explanation. She didn’t wait a second nor listen to any word he responded to. She was already walking, fast, to the exit of the hospital.

She didn’t leave her home for the next few days. Nor wanted anyone to visit her. She was  ashamed . Embarrassed she ran from the hospital like she was doing something  **illegal** , feeling guilty over a stupidity such as visiting someone at their hospital bed. Only it wasn't stupidity, because she did not know that man. She  _ happened _ to save his life, not even that, she just put him on a freaking ambulance. And she kept coming to visit day after day, like some stupid chick from one of the romcoms she  **_despised_ ** .

A few knocks on her door took her from her thoughts. Hesitant, she finally made her way to the entrance, her eyebrows frowned at the sighted of the visitor. 

“ _ Aang. What are you doing here? _ ” A subtle annoyance in her voice while asking, maybe not that  subtle , since she could feel his face fall. “ _ I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way _ .”

‘ _ I. . . was worried, you hadn’t come to work for a few days. _ ’ That’s it. She knew sooner or later, she might have to have that conversation. But she didn’t want to.

“ _ I took a shift off. I could, since I haven't stopped working since the accident _ .”

‘ _ You could at least call. We are friends, and I miss you _ .’

“ _ Aang, I told you. I need some time for myself. Can you just give it to me? I promise I’d call. _ ’  Sometime , she thought. But it was better for her not saying that out loud.

‘ _ Is it because of the accident? _ ’

“ _ Sure _ .” she just answered. She really didn’t want to talk about it. About anything.

The conversation followed a couple of lines more before she could wave him goodbye, closing the door quickly behind her and collapsing onto the couch back again. The TV was on, but she didn’t feel like  **_watching_ ** it.

A few minutes after, the knocks sounded again.  _ Ugh. Damn it, Aang. _ She thought furious, ready to scream her thoughts out as soon as she opened the door.

But she stayed quiet. She couldn’t make a sound.

In front of her wasn’t her partner at the hospital, but the firefighter she took to the hospital in a rush not more than a month ago.

“ _ You. _ ” she couldn’t say another word. Muttered another syllable. 

‘ _ Me _ .’ he answered with a grin on his face.  _ Damn _ , he was  **gorgeous** . She remembered, not long ago saying he was handsome, but she really didn’t know. She hadn’t had a proper look at the man until that moment. And  **yes** , he was fucking  _ beautiful _ . He was taller than her, which didn’t come as a surprise for the girl. She was used to being the shortest, anyway. His skin looked a little pale yet, having left the hospital not so long ago, but even with that he was  _ perfect _ . His hair was a little longer than when he was at the ambulance, and it fell messy over his face.  _ And what a face _ . His ambarine eyes were fixated on hers, and for the first time in ages, she didn’t feel nervous or uncomfortable by that gesture. A scar was left from the fire over his left eye, but it didn’t matter. He was still undoubtedly handsome, and for some reason Katara thought the scar even  _ fit  _ him. 

_What are you thinking?_ _He got burned in a fucking blast, and here you are thinking how_ ** _hot_** _the scar looks on him?_

She could feel her cheeks redden, turning her head down to the floor as a way for not  _ showing _ it. But she was sure he noticed as a chuckle escaped his throat.

‘ _ You are  _ _ Katara _ _ , aren’t you? _ ’ he talked again. She looked at him again, quickly. Maybe too quickly. He knew her name.

“ _ Ye… yeah. _ ”

‘ _ I’m Zuko _ .’ he was smiling. And damn it if it wasn’t the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

“ _ Hi, Zuko _ .” She felt like a stupid, like a little girl that couldn’t get the words out in front of her crush. But she  **didn’t know him** ,  _ why was she acting like that? _

The conversation followed in that line; he: incredibly smitten, she: an awkward ball of nerves. But she didn't mind. She found herself inviting him in, and they ended up watching a movie. She tried, she really did, to fixate her eyes on the screen. But she found herself looking at him from time to time, hoping he won’t notice.

The days passed by after that  **reunion** , and they kept seeing each other. Enjoying each other’s company. Katara never felt as comfortable with  _ anyone _ in that short amount of time. From time to time, they’d go out with his friends, or her coworkers; but from time to time they also spent time together. She felt incredibly by his side, and at nights, she couldn’t stop wondering  _ why _ .

A month passed and by that time they practically did everything together. 

_ That _ night, in particular, they were going to go to some concert. Something about a new coming out edgy group. None of them understood a damn thing about the pamphlet, but they figured out it may be fun.

That’s what she liked the most about him; he was always pushing her to do things she’d never imagine herself doing. Finding new things to  **love** . And it was  _ great _ . All of it, it was  _ fantastic _ .

They were currently in his apartment, the girl waiting for him to finish grabbing his staff.

Sokka was there too; sometimes bursting some jokes none of them found funny, other times just looking at her with a  _ suspicious _ look. Suddenly, a ringtone emerged and a banging door followed. A few minutes after, Zuko came out, his frame looking a little tense.

‘ _ Sorry,  _ _ Mai _ _ called _ .’

‘ _ You mean your  _ **_girlfriend_ ** _? _ ’

‘ _ Mai's not my girlfriend _ .’

‘ _ Sure thing. You two come and go over and over again _ .’

‘ _ That's not true! It's been ages since I've slept with her the last time, what are you talking about? _ ’

‘ _ Define  _ _ ages _ _. _ ’

‘ _ Around two or three months _ .’

‘ _ So. . . you do realise  _ _ almost _ _ half that time you were in a coma, dumbass? _ ’

‘ _ And? _ "

There was a minute of silence in the room, the taller looking at Sokka in a furious way, then back at her.  _ Concerned? _

Soon after, the man took him by the arm and throw him in a room, closing the door behind them.  _ Can we talk, in private? _ , he said to him, but didn’t wait for him to answer. 

Silence fill the room again, sometimes broke by some muttering inside that room, but the words we’re intelligibly for her to understand. Well,  _ most  _ of them. 

‘ _ Did you have to say  _ _ that _ _? In front of her? _ ’ Were he referring to her? 

‘ _ What do you mean? _ ’

More murmurs. Some shouting, but she didn’t catched the words. 

‘ _ Wait,  _ _ wait _ _! You  _ **_like_ ** _ her! _ ’ --  **What?**

‘ _ Shut up! _ ’ there was a pause, then the man from the fire spoke again, this time softer. ‘ _ You know she hates you? _ ’

‘ _ What are you saying? She doesn’t hate me! I’m  _ **_adorable_ ** _ , everyone  _ _ loves _ _ me! _ ’ 

‘ _ Only Suki loves you, man; god knows  _ _ why _ .’ 

‘ _ You know you’re just being stupid,  _ **_right_ ** _?’ he answered, ignoring the other’s accusation. _

_ ‘What are you talking about now? _ ’

‘ _ That girl, over our living room. She has come to see you day over day while you were on a freaking  _ _ coma _ _ , mate. Every single day! She did even get inside before that stupid recepcionist left me visit you! _ ’

‘ _ So what!? _ ’ 

‘ _ So  _ **_what_ ** _? That’s your answer.  _ _ See _ _ , you really are  _ **_stupid_ ** _. _ ’

They lowered their voice right after Sokka talked lastly, and kept chatting for a while before they came out of the room, worried and flustered looks in their faces. 

Katara was playing with the end of her sleeves, nervously. _How could she not be nervous?_ _Did the man just said he_ _liked_ _her?_ He didn’t answer, and as far as she knew, she had a weird thing going on with that girl called _Mai_. She did not know why, but she couldn’t help feeling a little betrayed, a small thorn piercing her heart. _Why? What was all that?_ She couldn’t like that boy, couldn’t she? But as long as she wanted to say no, to lie to herself; she acknowledged those feelings a while ago. She was **falling** for him, and she was falling _fast_. And if there was a small chance the man felt the same, it was **crashed** minutes before. 

‘ _ Shall we leave? _ ’ Zuko asked her, his eyes meeting hers. But she hadn’t the strength to look back, not right now anyway. She nodded slowly, and both of them leave the apartment, saying their farewells to Sokka.

The walk to the pub was silent. None of them had the courage to speak first.

After a while, he asked ‘ _ What’s the matter? _ ’

  
  


_ She hadn’t said a word since they left the apartment _ , he thought. 

He knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. She was never this quiet. The question left his lips without thinking. Regretting the second the words were out.

‘ _ Nothing _ .’ she muttered. But she didn’t look at him. 

“ _ It doesn’t sound like nothing _ .” 

‘ _ It is, okay? It’s just stupid. _ ’

“ _ What is  _ _ stupid _ _? _ ’ he didn’t know what happened, but he could tell she was sad. Her eyes were plastered on the floor, on the concrete they were stepping in; avoiding his.

After a few seconds, and a long sight, she finally spoke. ‘ _ I am _ .’

“ _ What? Why would you be stupid, Katara? _ ” he didn’t know what was happening, nor understanding why she would say something like that; and so he couldn’t hide the anger in his voice. But he wasn’t angry at  her , he was angry at her words. 

‘ _ I am, Zuko. That’s all. _ ’

The boy stopped abruptly, his hand grabbing the female’s wrist. “ _ You’re not _ .  _ Give me a single reason, one; for you thinking you’re stupid _ .”

‘ _ Because I’ve fallen for someone who has a girlfriend. _ ’ she didn’t think about her words, otherwise, she knew she would have never spoken. Not out loud at least.

Zuko froze in his place, his hand still wrapped around her arm. 

_ Was she? _ But no, she couldn’t be talking about  **him** , couldn’t she? 

It was the only thing that made sense. Her sudden change of humor, the conversation back at the apartment.  _ Damn it _ , Sokka was right,  _ I am really a  _ **_stupid_ ** .

He didn’t knew what to say, how to answer. He had never been good with words, and fuck it, he was even worst when it come to talk about  _ his _ feelings.

But he knew  **something** he could do. Something that was risky and that, if he were to be wrong about his assumptions, would  _ ruin _ everything.

Casting his fears and doubts aside; he  _ pulled  _ slightly from the woman’s wrist in his hand, making her turn to face him and shortened the space between them. Without time to hesitate, he leaned in, his lips caressing hers softly. 

He  _ waited _ for her reaction. He felt her body  **tense** and her eyes  **widened** . He was about to let her go when he felt her  _ kissing him back _ . She didn’t take long to respond, but for him. . .;  **damn** it felt like the  _ longest _ eternity. His hands slipped down her back and held her closer, she smiled against his lips. They broke the contact a few minutes after, longing for air; but they didn’t  _ pull apart _ . His eyes were lost in hers, wondering how  _ lucky _ he was for being able to hold her. He didn’t know she was thinking  exactly the same.

  
  


They’ve never felt more  **complete** and  **_safe_ ** than they felt in that moment. Never felt  _ happier  _ or  _ carefree _ . 

They felt like they’ve been waiting for each other their  **whole** life, like they’re  _ souls _ were made to be together.  **Bounded** , for the rest of their existence.

_Little did they know_ that was exactly what happened. The souls of two lovers, a **_light left on in the dark_**. . ., and the promise they made to each other of _always_ coming **back**.

A few miles from where they stand, over a hill from the outskirts of the city, a  **_red lantern_ ** floated in the sky.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the art displayed at the end, which belong to the incredibly talented @astrocito_s (on twitter).


End file.
